Seema Malhotra
Main Page: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)Department Debates - View all Seema Malhotra's debates with the HM Treasury
(4 years ago)
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Rishi Sunak
I am very happy to accept my hon. Friend’s invitation. He is absolutely right. The best way for us to provide opportunity for people is to give them the skills and the education they need, whether through universities, institutes of technology, further education, schools or apprenticeships. Providing people with that knowledge is what will enable them to build a better future for their lives. That is something that he and I both feel very passionately about. We will, as a Government, deliver that.
Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op) [V]
I am genuinely surprised that the Chancellor has not today brought forward a flexible furlough scheme for aviation, which he knows will have a longer recovery tail. I hope that, as he keeps in touch with the industry, he will also keep in touch with MPs from aviation communities for place-based support. He is right that young people and others will need support and access to jobs, and I welcome the kick-start scheme. However, with experts estimating that over 30,000 work coaches are needed and unemployment in the sector set to hit a record high in October, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions expects 4,500 new work coaches to be in place by then. Is the Chancellor concerned that there will not be enough in place to meet demand when we most need it, and what more does he think can be done?
Rishi Sunak
I commend and applaud all the efforts the Work and Pensions Secretary and her team are doing at the moment. Just for reference, they are doubling the number of work coaches and doing it in record time. We will have 13,500 in just eight months—a 100% increase. It is worth comparing that to what happened in 2008-09, when the Department for Work and Pensions recruited just 10,000, a 60% increase, which took 12 months. We will go as fast as is necessary, but no one can accuse us of not doing as much as we can, as quickly as we can, to provide people with the support that they need.